By Kim Anderson Sometimes the key to good health care is about more than the interaction between patients, physicians and nurses. Sometimes, good processes mean the difference between adequate and exceptional care. Recently, a group of nurses and physicians from several departments at Kootenai Health came together to tackle the challenge of getting patients placed in the hospital more quickly and efficiently. The goal was to get as many patients as possible to the appropriate level of care in a timely and safe manner. “We found through our research that patients have better outcomes when they are placed on the right unit quickly,” said registered nurse Lindsey Pacotti, Kootenai Health’s nursing operations manager. “Kootenai’s transition to the Epic electronic health record gave us the tool we needed to make a major improvement in this area.” Through Epic, Kootenai Health staff members are able to request a bed for a patient coming to the emergency department (ED), coming from another facility or transitioning between units. This capability, paired with a new process that was developed by several different units working together, has helped reduce the average patient wait time by more than four and a half hours. A dramatic improvement The new process has dramatically improved the experience for patients in the ED. Across the nation, 2 percent of patients who go to an ED wind up leaving before they have a chance to be seen. Today, Kootenai Health rarely has patients leaving the ED before they are provided care. The new process has also had a positive impact on emergency medical services across the region. “Because we have fewer patients waiting in the emergency department, when an ambulance arrives with a patient, they are able to unload that patient into an ED bed much more quickly,” said Lindsey. “Ambulance arrival to departure time at Kootenai Health’s ED is now just 18 minutes. Because they are spending less time waiting to unload, they can be out in the community responding to calls for a greater part of their day.” The process improvement had an even greater impact than staff members anticipated. The combination of the powerful new tools available through Epic, a positive approach from the leadership teams in many different departments and nurses across the organization working together has made a significant improvement for patients. “Change can be hard,” Lindsey said. “Given the difference this has made for our patients, though, this was a change that was absolutely worth it.” Are you on MyChart? MyChart is the patient portal within the Epic electronic health record system. Visit mychart.kh.org to see the tools you can use to manage your care. QUICKER CARE Lindsey Pacotti, RN, nursing operations manager Better Process, KH.ORG 13
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